A group of “cowboy” tree fellers may live to regret ripping off an elderly Bath woman after her angry neighbour decided to do something about it.

Weston resident Alex Gates was horrified to discover his neighbour had been charged £600 for an hour of work by the “unscrupulous” men.

The Bath doctor found the 90-year-old lady visibly shaken, clearing up the “absolute mess” they had made pruning two small trees in her garden.

The two or three workmen, one of whom he described as looking “thoroughly disreputable”, refused to provide a receipt for their exorbitant fee and took off without leaving any contact details.

Dr Gates was so livid he turned to Facebook to express his outrage about the “thieving oiks”.

Alex Gates's Facebook post

“I’m spitting feathers,” he wrote. “Some door-to-door cowboys have just charged my 90 year old vulnerable and confused neighbour £600 to prune a couple of small trees in her garden.

“They are operating in the Weston area of Bath so please be extra vigilant. I am appalled they are targeting the vulnerable and elderly.”

His post, shared widely on Facebook and Twitter, sparked outrage and concern, with well-wishers suggesting Dr Gates set up a JustGiving page and report the incident to police, the local authority and BBC One consumer show Watchdog.

Dr Gates’s neighbour did not want police involved, but Bath and North East Somerset Council’s Trading Standards Team has said it will investigate once a complaint is referred from the Citizens Advice Consumer Service.

The community, in the meantime, has not only donated generously to a JustGiving page set up by Dr Gates but is sharing sightings of the rogue traders in the hope that elderly householders will be warned off using their services.

Dr Gates was astonished at how quickly the money came pouring in after he set up the crowdfunding page on Tuesday, August 8.